OT: Coming Weekend Has Two Great Shows Ending
Big/sad weekend for fans of critically-acclaimed TV shows. Succession and Marvelous Mrs. Maisel will both have their final-ever episodes this coming weekend. HBO and Amazon have conspired to really make it quite the weekend, it seems. Only one show might end in the destruction of our democratic society; but for sure one show -- the other one -- will see a character's death.
While I can't say I have seen every great TV show ever, I try to tune into critically-acclaimed, award-winning shows, and both of these are on that list. And as short a list as you want. I'd put them as 2 of my top 5 ever, possibly 2 of top 4. They are weirdly even sort of mirrors of each other. Maisel is a comedy but at times weighed by its drama (which will be underlined by a character's demise to his cocaine addiction in the finale). Whereas, Succession is a drama but unquestionably fueled by comedic moments and characters.
With Better Call Saul ending in the past year as well, this has been quite a run of truly epically great shows. Undoubtedly others will come along... I have very high expectations for Season 2 of Arcane, although we might have to wait until 2024 for that.
Oh Arcane! Thank you MGOBLOG for that one. Was that your suggestion SS?
BCS was so damn good. In my memory banks it and BB have morphed into one show.
Well I have been known to promote Arcane at every logical opportunity.
LOVED Arcane.
If you haven't seen it, Vox Machina is amazing as well but VERY adult-themed.
What is BCS/BB?
BCS/BB = Better Call Saul/Breaking Bad
If you haven't watched these two shows, BCS was about a character in BB and had several of the same characters in both series. Both series were excellent.
Followed by the likely, yet unconfirmed final episode of Ted Lasso on Tuesday 5/30.
With all due respect, I don't think anyone should have Ted Lasso on any "top 10 of all time" list... at least not in a good sort of way.
Heavy disagree. Before this thread I would have thought almost no one would put Succession or Maisel in their top 10, but here we are.
Could be an age/exposure thing as you alluded to? I'm almost 40.
Would have to agree with this. I don't either show even sniffs a top 5. Though Succession might eke it's way into the tail end of a top 10. Maisel is good, with some top notch writing, but at not point was I so invested as to completely binge it (like with The Wire, Sopranos, Breaking Bad, GoT, and the like).
Also agree that Ted Lasso is good but certainly not top 10. I enjoy it, but I'm admittedly biased due to my love for soccer/int'l football, Jason Sudekis, and Bill Lawrence.
Recent binge of The Diplomat was worth my time for those looking for something new.
For me, the top two series of all time were:
1. The Sopranos (unanimous, first ballot HOF inductee)
2. Dexter (great acting, always thrilling, lots of blood, and bad guys dying).
Everything else was a distant third. And yes, I do gravitate to the dark side.
1. Sopranos
2. X-Files(seasons 1-6)
Dexter was a great show, but it ended poorly. TBH though, the finale of most shows are not as good as we'd like. However, The Sopranos ended damn good - I don't like that we are left to our own thoughts about Tony's ending, but otherwise it was a great ending.
Is this the part where I say “it wouldn’t be unanimous if I have had a vote” about Sopranos?
There is no denying it created the anti-hero genre that shows like Breaking Bad, Better Call Saul, The SHEILD, et al took off and ran with, but I don’t know if it was because I watched it years after it aired and had seen other shows in the genre already, but it felt like a caricature of the genre with some really over the top overacting and ridiculous (seeming to me anyway) storylines.
Top show for me is The Wire. Tons of great characters telling a story from multiple angles, showing that there is very little 100% good guy/100% bad guy dichotomy in the war on drugs and “the game”.
Have heard lots of things about Dexter (mostly how it’s great to start then gets progressively worse, like seemingly all Showtime series), but I guess I’ll have to give it a shot eventually.
So almost a man!
Ted Lasso Season 1 - Excellent
Ted Lasso Season 2 - Ok but a little color by numbers.
Ted Lasso Season 3 - Bloody awful
Barry is ending next weekend as well. It's a pretty good show. Although its hardcare fanbase would tell you it's 10 breaking bads shoved into one.
Gonna miss this show, but this season has been WEIRD.
And having Fuches yoked and jacked is a weird sensation when you realize he was Milton - Mr. Stapler in 'Office Space':
What is the difference between yoked and jacked?
Also, Barry is a great show. So much so that I tend to want to watch the next episode after I just finished that last. I am waiting for the season to finish before I start watching.
Jacked is a colloquialism more from "my" generation.
Yoked is what the "kids these days" seem to say (per my OWN kids). lol
Hard to believe he is 71 years old. Looks like early 50's in Barry.
I can only wish to be as in shape as he is in this last season AND with the mental faculties he clearly has at 71.
THE RAVEN
Bill Hader would agree.
https://movieweb.com/bill-hader-on-saul-breaking-bad-barry/
"Yeah, I saw [Gilligan] and the writers at a thing and said, 'Man, I really feel like I owe you a check.' (Laughs.) And especially for season one. There was a joke that people were calling it Breaking Good and stuff like that. But it is true."
I will watch the conclusion of Barry cuz at this point I am invested. However this season's time jump was one of the strangest, poorly written plot devices I can think of in a show. I wouldn't recommend Barry based on that alone.
Poorly written is a lame & unspecific critique. I would argue it was a great device because it worked as an extension of the more dramatic themes and emotions expressed in S3 - rage, narcissistic attempts to fix or control situations and others and Barry's spiraling, unstable pain.
Time is the only solution I can see which can continue exploring these themes without rendering S3 useless. It is a shift from the more irreverent and funny S1, but it makes sense
Bailed on Mrs. Maisel in season 2. Beautiful to look at but could not handle the “drama” of their lives. And when she whined about money while living in a magnificent Manhattan apartment, having a huge wardrobe and domestic help, well…EXCUUUUSE ME!!!
Couldn't stand the show because of things like that.
Entitled, self-important people tend to bother me...which is why I couldn't stand Schitt's Creek at first...but then came around to it.
Maybe a re-watch of Maisel would help, but idk. Comedy is easier to consume when you have hangups like this lol.
The whining and their obliviousness is part of what makes it funny to me. Not to mention the completely neglectful parenting.
This season has been much better than last year's.
Yeah, Tony Shalhoub is a great neurotic as always and Rachel Brosnahan is fantastic in this role. The show is often making fun of how spoiled and clueless they are. This is a very odd take.
Last night's Succession veered into a whole other place for me: expression of genuine emotion. I thought the funeral scene was brilliant (trying to avoid spoilers for anyone who didn't see it). I hope the finale isn't a letdown. So many shows seem unable to satisfactorily end.
Greg becomes head of the company, then bumbles into becoming president somehow...because Greg.
this seems like the likely outcome
GoJo takes over
Has to install American CEO
They pick Greg
That speech was a masterpiece of self-righteousness which is so typical of the character. Eye rolling inducing.
Logan's brother?
Yes.
His character has always struck me as obnoxiously self-righteous. That scene just reinforce that. He’s as unlikeable as Logan in his own way.
I do agree that the scene was fantastic. Arguably the best scene of the show.
The one thing I’d say in his defense is he’s able to at least acknowledge that he likely has his own meagerness about him, just as Logan had.
I have found most if not all, male characters in an "empowered woman" movie sound very cliche, shallow, and "an a*hole", for lack of a better phrase.
They never come across authentic.
Satisfactory endings you say? I offer two that were better than satisfactory:
Justified. The jump forward for the last 10 minutes which helped resolve both Ava and Boyd was so well done. “We dug coal together.”
The Americans. The scene when Phillip and Elizabeth board the train to Canada and realized that Paige remained on the platform was amazing. And heartbreaking.
I agree.
The finale of The Americans was about as perfect as a show can get.
Phillip and Elizabeth board the train to Canada and realized that Paige remained on the platform
...and edited so that horrible moment of realization comes at the exact moment of wailing "With or Without You" [perfect song for farewells - surprised it hadn't been used before] in the underlying soundtrack
You’re not wrong about it veering to genuine emotion (I feel like watching Roman the last few weeks has been watching a slow motion train that is bound to derail. You knew he just wasn’t well. Even more so than usual, and imploding was inevitable) but Kendall’s confession/emotional breakdown to Shiv and Roman in the S3 finale felt like that kind of moment for Kendall.
But the funeral scene was easily one of the greatest moments of a show that is chock full of great moments. Behind all of Roman’s BS, all of his misogynist, asinine, childish remarks, his arrogance, is what we all knew to be there from the beginning. A frightened little boy. Saddest part is he undoubtedly loved Logan the most of the four siblings, and he was almost certainly the one who endured the most emotional neglect and abuse at his hands.
No idea how it all ends next week, but I hope they do it justice. I’m cautiously optimistic.
We love both of those shows.
As the son, husband and parent of smart, accomplished women, I was bawling my eyes out during the scene in last week's Maisel where Midge's dad lamented his mistakes in raising Midge.
Pretty bummed about Succession ending. Watched the first episode back in 2018 on the plane back home from the Michigan-Nebraska and Lions-Patriots games that weekend, so I have pretty much been watching since only a month or two after it came out. To see the show hit the levels of success it has seen is pretty wild. Next weekend is going to stink knowing its over.
At this pointI could never get into Barry or Mrs. Maisel really. And since the pandemic, it feels like most shows that have started/continued since then are pretty pedestrian at best, so losing Succession is gonna stink lol.
Also of note, this is supposedly the final season of Curb Your Enthusiasm as well in a couple of months.
Succession: pretty good I would say. Some great episodes. Brian Cox a master as Logan Roy. Not an all time great, though, imho - not enough variety in what happens from episode to episode.
Marvelous Maisel: really really don't like it. Couldn't get through Season 1 even. A show about comedy legends that wasn't funny. Really don't get how people like this show.
Among the new ones, we liked Alaska Daily and Will Trent. One of them has been cancelled, while the other will be back.
Fear not. House is there to keep us company while we await the next great one!
“Only one show might end in the destruction of our democratic society;”
😐
Succession is a good show that is made terrific by the acting. It’s politics…🫤
Barry is a quality show, but far too short. The half hour episodes don’t permit for much elaboration on character motivations or background.
Sal, why is it comedies can only be 30 minutes long?
I think much of my appreciation for Barry is the short episode length. Not every character needs a trite lower deck standalone episode to explicitly show hrs of unnecessary background. It can be engaging to fill in the details, too.
Bill Hader & team clearly had a vision from the start and are telling a story instead of filling ten hr long blocks each year.
You forgot Barry!
Top shows: Sopranos, GOT
Also loved Stranger Things, The Killing (from years back), warmed up to Severance, didn't like The Last of Us (felt derivative), tried to like Your Honor because of Bryan Cranston but it was so depressing. Breaking Bad was also hard to get through for the same reason but Bryan Cranston was amazing. Didn't love The Bear because some of the kitchen stuff was inaccurate and that felt important, like it needed to be. I like Succession, but hate everyone in it, which I guess is the common thing we all feel.
What am I missing about Succession? I watched the first 2 or 3 episodes and just didn't get into it at all.
EDIT: I like Maisel, thought it had really high production value. Rachel Brosnahan is an extremely talented actress, but I found her character (and constant fights with Joel) grating after a while. When her mom went to Paris was when I felt the thing had jumped the shark. Season 1 was really good for the most part, imo, especially the standup routines.
Adam McKay , From SNL to present has been about as overlooked as this post probably will be.